In a guest blog at Hidden River Arts, David Sanders explains how he lost his novel in order to find it -- an astonishing essay that details the roles of computer crashes, whiskey, cancer, rejection, and utter confusion in the production of a great book.

Writers ought to look at this to learn about dealing with frustration, including the kind where you curl in a ball on the floor, sobbing and moaning.

As most locals believe, the road to wisdom leads through South Philly, and if we need any extra proof of that, we'll get it on September 19 when David Sanders brings his extraordinary novel BUSARA ROAD to the charming bookstore called A Novel Idea on Passyunk.

In Swahili the word for wisdom is Busara, and BUSARA ROAD takes us on a poignant journey of discovery in the exotic setting of postcolonial Kenya.

Here's what award-winning author Jacob M. Appel has said about the book:

"In his authentic and haunting first novel, BUSARA ROAD, David Sanders captures the turbulent early days of newly-independent Kenya through the eyes of eleven-year-old Mark Morgan, the sensitive and inquisitive son of a widowed Quaker missionary. Set in the aftermath of the brutal conflict between colonial British forces and the Mau Mau rebels, the novel navigates the jungle of grief and hope that is a community emerging from years of violence, as well as the suffering of those set upon avenging past atrocities. Sanders creates characters who are memorable, distinctive, multi-dimensional and indelibly true. In the spirit of the best of Norman Rush and Barbara Kingsolver, BUSARA ROAD is a Bildungsroman of insight and compassion from an author who has mastered both the substance and the emotion of his subject matter. A riveting tour de force, the novel will appeal to anyone who has ever been eleven years old and at sea in the world. BUSARA ROAD leads readers both into the African past and into the depths of the human spirit—it is a road not to be missed."

David will read from the book, chat with the audience, and sign copies. An event not to be missed!